180 BCE

The history of Buddhism spans from the 6th century BCE to the present, starting with the birth of the Buddha Siddharta Gautama. This makes it one of the oldest religions practiced today. Throughout this period, the religion evolved as it encountered various countries and cultures, adding to its original Indian foundation Hellenistic as well as Central Asian, East Asian, and Southeast Asian cultural elements. In the process, its geographical extent became considerable so as to affect at one time or another most of the Asian continent. The history of Buddhism is also characterized by the development of numerous movements and schisms, foremost among them the Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana traditions, punctuated by contrasting periods of expansion and retreat.

Read more here: » Buddhism: History of Buddhism

BCE - Before common Era. The non - religious equivalent of BC.

(See also: BCE , Wiccan Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

B.C.E - Before Common Era, non-christian version of B.C.

(See also: B.C.E , Pagan, Wicca Pagan Dictionary)

The third major change in the history of humanity. It began in about 3,000 B.C.E., initially in the river valleys where the agricultural revolution first began, and then independently developed or spread to other areas around the world. It marks the beginning of civilization as we know it today.

(See also: Urban Revolution , Magic, Shamanism, Pagan Dictionary)

PICTS - small, dark people who came to Scotland and northern Ireland before 2000 BCE Their artwork and metalsmithing was the basic for these craft, among the Celts. (CMM)

(See also: PICTS , Wiccan Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Buddhist art originated in the Indian subcontinent in the centuries following the life of the historical Gautama Buddha in the 6th to 5th century BCE, before evolving through its contact with other cultures and its diffusion through the rest of Asia and the world. A first, essentially Indian, aniconic phase (avoiding direct representations of the Buddha), was followed from around the 1st century CE by an iconic phase (with direct representations of the Buddha). From that time, Buddhist art diversified and evolved ...

Including:

• Buddhist art - Aniconic phase 5th century - 1st century BCE
• Buddhist art - Iconic phase 1st century CE – present
• Buddhist art - Northern Buddhist art
• Buddhist art - Central Asia
• Buddhist art - China
• Buddhist art - Korea
• Buddhist art - Japan
• Buddhist art - Tibet and Bhutan
• Buddhist art - Vietnam
• Buddhist art - Southern Buddhist art
• Buddhist art - Burma
• Buddhist art - Cambodia
• Buddhist art - Thailand
• Buddhist art - Indonesia

Read more here: » Buddhist art

The history of Buddhism spans from the 6th century BCE to the present, starting with the birth of the Buddha Siddharta Gautama. This makes it one of the oldest religions practiced today. Throughout this period, the religion evolved as it encountered various countries and cultures, adding to its original Indian foundation Hellenistic as well as Central Asian, East Asian, and Southeast Asian cultural elements. In the process, its geographical extent became considerable so as to affect at one time or another most of the Asian continent. ...

Including:

• History of Buddhism - Life of the Buddha
• History of Buddhism - Early Buddhism
• History of Buddhism - 1st Buddhist council 5th c. BCE
• History of Buddhism - 2nd Buddhist council 383 BCE
• History of Buddhism - Ashokan proselytism c. 260 BCE
• History of Buddhism - 3rd Buddhist council c.250 BCE
• History of Buddhism - Hellenistic world
• History of Buddhism - Asian expansion
• History of Buddhism - Sunga persecutions 2nd–1st c.BCE
• History of Buddhism - Greco-Buddhist interaction 2nd c. BCE–1st c. CE
• History of Buddhism - Rise of Mahayana 1st c.BCE–2nd c.CE
• History of Buddhism - Mahayana expansion 1st c.CE–10th c.CE
• History of Buddhism - India
• History of Buddhism - Central and Northern Asia
• History of Buddhism - South-East Asia
• History of Buddhism - Emergence of the Vajrayana 5th century
• History of Buddhism - Theravada Renaissance 11th century CE—
• History of Buddhism - Expansion of Buddhism to the West
• History of Buddhism - Notes

Read more here: » History of Buddhism: Encyclopedia - History of Buddhism

The Indo-Greeks (or sometimes Greco-Indians) designate a series of Greek kings, who invaded and controlled parts of northwest and northern India from 180 BCE to around 10 CE. They were the successors in India of the Greco-Bactrian dynasty of Greek kings (the Euthydemids) founded by the military governor Diodotus around 250 BCE when he established the independence of his Bactrian territory from the Seleucid Empire. During the two centuries of their rule, the Indo-Greek kings combined the Greek and Indian languages and sym ...

Including:

• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Historical outline
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Occupation of Northern India
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Consolidation
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Eastern territories
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Western territories
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - The Indo-Greeks and Indian culture
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - The Indo-Greeks and Buddhism
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - The conversion of Menander
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Buddhist proselytism
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Buddhist symbolism
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Representation of the Buddha
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Incipient Greco-Buddhist art
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - The Indo-Greeks and other faiths
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Hinduism
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Zoroastrianism
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Indo-Greeks in the art of Gandhara
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Scythian and Kushan invasions
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Aftermaths
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Art and religion
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Astronomy
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Military role
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Linguistic legacy
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Influence of Indo-Greek coinage
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Genetic contribution
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Greco-Roman exchanges with India
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Main Indo-Greek kings timeline and territories
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Eastern territories
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Western territories
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Indo-Greek princelets Gandhara
• Indo-Greek Kingdom - Notes

Read more here: » Indo-Greek Kingdom: Encyclopedia - Indo-Greek Kingdom

Greco-Buddhism, sometimes spelled Græco-Buddhism, is the cultural syncretism between the culture of Classical Greece and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to 800 years in Central Asia in the area corresponding to modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan, between the 4th century BCE and the 5th century CE. Greco-Buddhism influenced the artistic (and, possibly, conceptual) development of Buddhism, and in particular Mahayana Buddhism, before it was adopted by Central and Northeastern Asia from the 1st century CE, ultima ...

Including:

• Greco-Buddhism - Historical outline
• Greco-Buddhism - Religious interactions
• Greco-Buddhism - Alexander the Great in Bactria and India 331-325
• Greco-Buddhism - The Mauryan empire 322–183 BCE
• Greco-Buddhism - The Greek presence in Bactria 325 to 125 BCE
• Greco-Buddhism - The Indo-Greek kingdom and Buddhism 180 BCE –10 CE
• Greco-Buddhism - The Kushan empire 1st–3rd century CE
• Greco-Buddhism - Artistic influences
• Greco-Buddhism - The anthropomorphic representation of the Buddha
• Greco-Buddhism - A Hellenized Buddhist pantheon
• Greco-Buddhism - Greco-Buddhism and the rise of the Mahayana
• Greco-Buddhism - Conceptual influences
• Greco-Buddhism - Gandharan proselytism
• Greco-Buddhism - Intellectual influences in Asia
• Greco-Buddhism - Greco-Buddhism and the West
• Greco-Buddhism - Exchanges
• Greco-Buddhism - Religious influences
• Greco-Buddhism - Notes

Read more here: » Greco-Buddhism: Encyclopedia - Greco-Buddhism

The Biblical canon is an exclusive list of books written during the formative period of the Jewish or Christian faiths; the leaders of these communities believed these books to be inspired by God or to express the authoritative history of the relationship between God and his people (although there may have been secondary considerations as well). There are differences between Christians and Jews, as well as between different Christian traditions, over which books meet the standards for canonization. The different criteria for, and the process of, canonization for each community dictates what ...

Including:

• Biblical canon - Canonic texts in Jewish and Christian traditions
• Biblical canon - Jewish canon
• Biblical canon - Samaritan canon
• Biblical canon - Christian canon
• Biblical canon - Orthodox Catholic and Protestant
• Biblical canon - Selected Evangelicals
• Biblical canon - Modern interpretation of canonization
• Biblical canon - Latter-day Saint Scripture
• Biblical canon - Footnotes

Read more here: » Biblical canon: Encyclopedia - Biblical canon

Gandhāra (also Ghandara, Ghandahra, Chandahara, and Persian Gandara) is the name of an ancient kingdom in eastern Afghanistan and north-west province of Pakistan. Gandhara was located mainly on southern side of Kabul River. In the east, it extended beyond Indus River and included within its boundaries parts of the valley of Kashmir (Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p 151). Gandhara - Geography. The Gandharas were settled since the Vedic times on the south bank of Kabul ...

Including:

• Gandhara - Geography
• Gandhara - Ancient Gandhara
• Gandhara - Persian rule
• Gandhara - Gandhara under the Mauryas
• Gandhara - Gandhara under Greek rule
• Gandhara - Language
• Gandhara - Gandharan proselytism
• Gandhara - Gandharan art
• Gandhara - Timeline
• Gandhara - External link

Read more here: » Gandhara: Encyclopedia - Gandhara

"Yona" (also sometimes "Yonaka") is a Pali word used in ancient India to designate ancient Greek people. Its equivalent in Sanskrit is the word "Yavana". "Yona" and "Yavana" are both transliterations of the Greek word for "Ionians" (Homer Iāones, older *Iāwones), who were probably the first Greeks to be known in the East. Yona - Old World usage. This usage was shared by many of the countries east of Greece, from the Mediterranean to India and China: Egyptians used ...

Including:

• Yona - Old World usage
• Yona - Indian references
• Yona - Role in Buddhism
• Yona - Invasion of India
• Yona - Scientific abilities
• Yona - Other references
• Yona - The Yonas and other northwestern invaders in Indian literature
• Yona - Later meanings
• Yona - Contemporary usage
• Yona - Notes
• Yona - External link

Read more here: » Yona: Encyclopedia - Yona

The Greco-Bactrians were a dynasty of Greek kings who controlled Bactria and Sogdiana, an area comprising today's northern Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia, the easternmost area of the Hellenistic world, from 250 to 125 BCE. Their expansion into northern India established the Indo-Greek Kingdom, which was to last until around 10 CE. Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - Independence from the Seleucid Empire 250 BCE. The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was founded by the Seleucid military governor of Bactria Diodotus around ...

Including:

• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - Independence from the Seleucid Empire 250 BCE
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - The Euthydemid dynasty 230 BCE
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - Conflict with the Seleucid empire and Parthia
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - Greek culture in Bactria
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - Geographic expansion
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - Contacts with Eastern Central Asia and China
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - Contacts with India 250–180
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - Expansion into India after 180 BCE
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - Usurpation of Eucratides
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - Defeat against Parthia
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - Nomadic invasions
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - First Yueh-Chih expansion c. 162 BCE
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - Second Yueh-Chih expansion c. 120 BCE
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - Main Greco-Bactrian kings and territories
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - House of Diodotus
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - House of Euthydemus
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - House of Eucratides
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom - Notes

Read more here: » Greco-Bactrian Kingdom: Encyclopedia - Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

Buddhist art originated in the Indian subcontinent in the centuries following the life of the historical Gautama Buddha in the 6th to 5th century BCE, before evolving through its contact with other cultures and its diffusion through the rest of Asia and the world. A first, essentially Indian, aniconic phase (avoiding direct representations of the Buddha), was followed from around the 1st century CE by an iconic phase (with direct representations of the Buddha). From that time, Buddhist art diversified and evolved ...

Including:

• Buddhist art - Aniconic phase 5th century - 1st century BCE
• Buddhist art - Iconic phase 1st century CE – present
• Buddhist art - Northern Buddhist art
• Buddhist art - Afghanistan
• Buddhist art - Central Asia
• Buddhist art - China
• Buddhist art - Korea
• Buddhist art - Japan
• Buddhist art - Tibet and Bhutan
• Buddhist art - Vietnam
• Buddhist art - Southern Buddhist art
• Buddhist art - Burma
• Buddhist art - Cambodia
• Buddhist art - Thailand
• Buddhist art - Indonesia

Read more here: » Buddhist art: Encyclopedia - Buddhist art

Agathocles "the Just" was an Indo-Greek king, who reigned between around 190 and 180 BCE. He might have been a son of Demetrius and one of his sub-kings in charge of the Paropamisadae between Bactria and India. In that case, he was a grandson of Euthydemus whom he qualified as "God-King" on his coins. Agathocles was contemporary with or a successor of king Pantaleon. He seems to have been attacked and killed by the usurper Eucratides, who took control of the Greco-Bactrian territory. Little is known about him, apart from his ex ...

Including:

• Agathocles of Bactria - Pedigree coinage
• Agathocles of Bactria - Dynast or usurper?
• Agathocles of Bactria - Nickel coins
• Agathocles of Bactria - Bilingual coinage
• Agathocles of Bactria - Buddhist coinage
• Agathocles of Bactria - Hinduist coinage

Read more here: » Agathocles of Bactria: Encyclopedia - Agathocles of Bactria

Ecclesiastes, Kohelet in Hebrew, is a book of the Hebrew Bible. The title derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew title: קהלת (variously transliterated as Qoheleth, Qohelethh, Kohelet, Koheleth, or even Coheleth). The author represents himself as the son of David, and king over Israel in Jerusalem (1:1, 12, 16; 2:7, 9). The work consists of personal or autobiographic matter, largely expressed in aphorisms and maxims illuminated in terse paragraphs with reflections on ...

Including:

• Ecclesiastes - Kohelet and Ecclesiastes
• Ecclesiastes - Author
• Ecclesiastes - Language
• Ecclesiastes - Dating Ecclesiastes
• Ecclesiastes - Placement in canon
• Ecclesiastes - Vanity
• Ecclesiastes - Readings

Read more here: » Ecclesiastes: Encyclopedia - Ecclesiastes

Mathura (मथुरा) is a city in India, located approximately 50 km north of Agra, and south of Delhi. It is the administrative center of Mathura District. During the ancient period, this was an economic hub, located at the junction of some relatively important caravan routes. Mathura is the reputed birthplace of Krishna, Krishnajanmabhoomi. The Keshav Dev temple was built in ancient times on the site of Krishna's supposed birthplace (an underground prison). In the 6th century BCE Mathu ...

Including:

• Mathura - Hotels:
• Mathura - Art of Mathura

Read more here: » Mathura: Encyclopedia - Mathura

Brhadrata was the last ruler of the Indian Mauryan dynasty. It is said that his territories, centered around the capital of Pataliputra, had shrunk considerably from the time of the great Emperor Ashoka, but that he was still upholding the Buddhist faith. He was assassinated in 185 BCE during a military parade by the commander-in-chief of his guard, the Brahmin general Pusyamitra Sunga, who then took over the throne and established the Sunga dynasty. The assassination of Brhadrata and the rise of the Sunga empire led to a wave of persecut ...

Read more here: » Brhadrata: Encyclopedia - Brhadrata

Main article: Greco-Buddhism The Edicts of Ashoka, inscribed during the reign of the Indian emperor Ashoka (273-232 BCE), claim that the Greek populations of the northwestern Indian subcontinent (in today's Afghanistan and ancient Gandhara) had already welcomed Buddhism by around 250 BCE: "Here in the king's domain among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Nabhakas, the Nabhapamkits, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras and the Palidas, everywhere people are following Beloved-of-the-Gods' instructions ...

See also:

Indo-Greek Kingdom, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Historical outline, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Occupation of Northern India, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Consolidation, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Eastern territories, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Western territories, Indo-Greek Kingdom - The Indo-Greeks and Indian culture, Indo-Greek Kingdom - The Indo-Greeks and Buddhism, Indo-Greek Kingdom - The conversion of Menander, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Buddhist proselytism, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Buddhist symbolism, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Representation of the Buddha, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Incipient Greco-Buddhist art, Indo-Greek Kingdom - The Indo-Greeks and other faiths, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Hinduism, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Zoroastrianism, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Indo-Greeks in the art of Gandhara, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Scythian and Kushan invasions, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Aftermaths, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Art and religion, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Astronomy, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Military role, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Linguistic legacy, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Influence of Indo-Greek coinage, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Genetic contribution, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Greco-Roman exchanges with India, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Main Indo-Greek kings timeline and territories, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Eastern territories, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Western territories, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Indo-Greek princelets Gandhara, Indo-Greek Kingdom - Notes

Read more here: » Indo-Greek Kingdom: Encyclopedia II - Indo-Greek Kingdom - The Indo-Greeks and Buddhism

As soon as the Greeks invaded India to form the Indo-Greek kingdom, a fusion of Hellenistic and Buddhist elements started to appear, encouraged by the benevolence of the Greek kings towards Buddhism. This artistic trend then developed for several centuries and seemed to flourish further during the Kushan Empire from the first century CE. Greco-Buddhist art - Artistic model. Greco-Buddhist art depicts the life of the Buddha in a visual manner, probably by incorporating the real-l ...

See also:

Greco-Buddhist art, Greco-Buddhist art - Hellenistic art in southern Asia, Greco-Buddhist art - Greco-Buddhist artistic interaction, Greco-Buddhist art - Artistic model, Greco-Buddhist art - Stylistic evolution, Greco-Buddhist art - Architecture, Greco-Buddhist art - The Buddha, Greco-Buddhist art - Gods and Bodhisattvas, Greco-Buddhist art - Cupids, Greco-Buddhist art - Devotees, Greco-Buddhist art - Fantastic animals, Greco-Buddhist art - The Kushan contribution, Greco-Buddhist art - Southern influences of Greco-Buddhist art, Greco-Buddhist art - The art of the Sunga, Greco-Buddhist art - The art of Mathura, Greco-Buddhist art - Art of the Gupta, Greco-Buddhist art - Greco-Buddhist art expansion in Central Asia, Greco-Buddhist art - Bactria, Greco-Buddhist art - Tarim Basin, Greco-Buddhist art - Greco-Buddhist influences in Eastern Asia, Greco-Buddhist art - China, Greco-Buddhist art - Japan, Greco-Buddhist art - Influences on South-East Asian art, Greco-Buddhist art - Cultural significance of Greco-Buddhist art, Greco-Buddhist art - Notes

Read more here: » Greco-Buddhist art: Encyclopedia II - Greco-Buddhist art - Greco-Buddhist artistic interaction